Irish power play continues clicking in 4-1 win

COLLEGE HOCKEY

COLLEGE HOCKEY

January 27, 2008

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took their show to the Bowling Green Ice Arena on Saturday night and picked up where they left on in Friday night's 6-1 home win at the Joyce Center, taking a 4-1 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons for a sweep of the two-game series. Freshman right wing Ben Ryan paced the Notre Dame offense, scoring a pair of power-play goals and turning in a three-point night. Freshman defenseman Ian Cole and sophomore center Kevin Deeth had single goals for the Irish in the win. Dan Sexton scored the lone goal of the night for the Falcons (12-12-0, 9-9-0 CCHA), getting a third-period short-handed goal. Notre Dame (20-9-1, 13-6-1 CCHA) now has back-to-back 20-win seasons (32 wins in '06-'07) for the first time in the program's 40-year history. Ryan got the Irish offense started in the opening period with his first power-play goal of the night at 4:33. Defenseman Kyle Lawson flipped a shot at the Bowling Green goal that Justin White managed to deflect on Falcon goaltender Jimmy Spratt. The rebound bounced out in front to Ryan who fought off a check and tucked the puck past Spratt to give the Irish a 1-0 lead. After going eight straight games without a power-play goal, the Irish have now scored two power-play goals in each of the last two games, going 2-for-8 against the Falcons Saturday night. The score would remain 1-0 until the 16:01 mark of the second period when Cole scored with the two teams playing four-on-four. Ryan moved the puck ahead to Mark Van Guilder who carried the puck through center ice. Van Guilder slid the puck to the left side to Cole who jumped into the play from his defensive spot. Cole and Van Guilder moved in two-on-one on Spratt with Cole ripping a shot from the left wing circle that beat Spratt to his glove side. The goal was Cole's third of the season and gave Notre Dame a 2-0 lead heading into the second intermission. With Notre Dame on a power play in the final period, Bowling Green broke through with a short-handed tally. Defenseman Andrew Krelove broke up an Irish play inside the Falcon blue line and found Sexton all alone behind the Notre Dame defense at the Irish blue line. Sexton beat Jordan Pearce on a breakaway at 11:58 to make it 2-1. Ryan would put a serious dent in the Bowling Green comeback bid at 16:31 with his second power-play goal of the night. Justin White won a face off back to Dan Kissel, who found Ryan all alone to the right of Spratt. The freshman wasted no time as he buried a shot under the cross bar for his eighth goal of the season, giving the Irish a 3-1 edge. The Falcons pulled Spratt with 1:43 left with a power-play, giving them a two-man advantage. With a face off in neutral ice, Deeth won a draw to defenseman Brock Sheahan who slipped a pass off the left boards back to Deeth who shot it the length of the ice into the open net for the short-handed goal and the 4-1 win. For the game, Notre Dame outshot Bowling Green by a 26-22 margin. Pearce made 21 saves in goal while Spratt stopped 22 shots on the night. NOTRE DAME 4, BOWLING GREEN 1 Notre Dame 1 1 2--4 Bowlimg Green 0 0 1--1 FIRST PERIOD: ND: Ben Ryan 7 (Justin White, Kyle Lawson), PPG, 4:33. Penalties: ND: 1 for 2 minutes; BGSU: 1 for 2 minutes. SECOND PERIOD: ND: Ian Cole 3 (Mark Van Guilder, Ryan), 16:01. Penalties: ND: 3 for 6 minutes; BGSU: 3 for 6 minutes. THIRD PERIOD: BGSU: Dan Sexton 6 (Andrew Krelove), SHG, 11:58: ND: Ryan 8 (Dan Kissel, Justin White), PPG, 16:31; ND: Kevin Deeth 7 (Brock Sheahan), ENG, SHG, 18:41. Penalties: ND: 4 for 8 minutes; BGSU: 6 for 20 minutes. Shots On Goal: Notre Dame 6-12-8--26, Bowling Green 5-8-9--22; Goalies: ND Jordan Pearce (22 shots, 21 saves) BGSU Jimmy Spratt (25, 22); Power Plays: ND: 2 for 8, BGSU: 0 for 6; Attendance: 3,911 Spartans, Wolverines tie EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Matt Rust was credited with a goal that bounced in off Michigan State's Matt Schepke with 1:38 left to give top-ranked Michigan a 2-2 tie on Saturday night and prevent a weekend sweep by the Spartans.